The Russian army will begin testing the modified Zubilo unmanned armored vehicle in April. Reportedly, the unmanned armored vehicle was modified based on the wishes of the Russian Ministry of Defense. Among the key improvements, weight reduction and increased cross-country ability probably increased autonomy, since this parameter did not suit the military. The Remdiesel unmanned armored vehicle was first presented in 2023 and is designed to support assault groups, transport ammunition, transport cargo and the wounded, as well as recharge radio stations and drones. The armored unmanned platform "Zibilo" was created on the chassis of a serial KamAZ truck; it got its name from the shape of the hull. For the first time it was shown with a ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft gun as a weapon, but whether this will be its standard weapon is still unknown. The armored vehicle can quickly begin to be mass-produced, since it is created from available serial components. The Zubilo armored car is equipped with a 350 hp engine. has a curb weight of 13,300 kg and a load capacity of 2,700 kg, a maximum highway speed of 100 km/h, and a climbing angle of at least 30°.
Russian Armed Forces
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Naval exercises between Russia, Iran and China “Maritime Security Belt 2024” have begun in the Gulf of Oman. The main purpose of the exercise is to practice ensuring the safety of maritime economic activity in the region. The ships will conduct joint maneuvering and firing at surface and air targets. In addition, the crews will conduct exercises to free a ship captured by pirates. On the Russian side, the missile cruiser Varyag of Project 1164 Atlant and the frigate Marshal Shaposhnikov of Project 1155M, which received Caliber missiles after modernization, are participating in the exercises. More than 20 ships, support vessels and combat boats from Russia, Iran and China are also involved in the exercises. Naval helicopters are also widely used.
Footage of exercises with the Russian armored train "Yenisei". It is worth noting that it can only be called an armored train conditionally; its main function is engineering reconnaissance, transportation of materials and restoration and protection of railway tracks. On the armored train on the platform, a BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicle is installed, there are crews of 82-mm mortars, anti-aircraft and tank machine guns. Military personnel also use drones.
Russian MiG-31 aircraft with hypersonic Kinzhal missiles and Tu-22M3 bombers patrolled the western border of Russia over the Baltic waters. During the flight, the crews of the MiG-31 aircraft practiced in-flight refueling from the Il-78 aircraft. Fighter escort was also provided by Russian Su-30SM and Su-35S aircraft. At certain stages of the route, Russian aircraft were accompanied by Finnish F-18 fighters armed with AIM-9 air-to-air missiles.
The Russian army has modernized the design of Iskander-M ballistic missiles, Ukrainian media reported this. According to materials published by the Ukrainian side, Russia has made changes to the design of 9M723 ballistic missiles. Apparently the developers considered that the missiles had sufficient characteristics to overcome air defense systems and increased the noise immunity and accuracy of the missiles. The published photos show that the decoy submunitions previously used in missiles, which were fired in flight to distract air defense systems, have been removed from the missile. To increase the noise immunity and accuracy of the missiles, additional GPS/GLONASS satellite navigation modules are installed, similar to the Comet satellite data reception module; each of them has four 4-beam antennas. The Iskander-M complex was put into service in 2006 and uses two types of missiles, the 9M723 ballistic missile, also called Iskander-M, and the 9M728 Iskander-K cruise missile.
Footage of the use of the Russian TDA-2K machine, intended for setting up smoke screens; we previously talked about the TDA-2M thermal smoke machine. The TDM-2K thermal smoke machine is manufactured by the Tambovpolimermash company and put into service in 1982. TDA-2K is located on the chassis of a KAMAZ-4310 vehicle and is intended for camouflage of various objects with neutral aerosols, as well as for disinfestation of areas and structures with insecticidal aerosols. The operating principle of the machine is based on the evaporation of a safe smoke-forming substance in a stream of hot gases, followed by condensation of the resulting vapors in the atmosphere. The vehicle deploys in 5 minutes and is capable of placing a smoke screen at a distance of at least 1000 meters for 4 to 13 hours on a single charge, doing this while moving at speeds of up to 40 km/h. The working volume of the aerosol-forming substance tank is 4200 liters. The crew of the car is 2 people.
Russian KamAZ-5350 (6x6) trucks began to be equipped with additional armor designed to protect against drones. It is not yet known to what extent the kits are being mass produced, but they are already being supplied to the troops. In addition, the troops began to receive KamAZ-6350 (8x8) trucks with factory armored cabs of the 2nd protection class. The total weight of the armor set for the KamAZ-5350 truck is 750 kilograms, the armor is placed on the outer and inner parts of the cab, gas tank and engine. The armor is combined and contains Kevlar sheets. The armor class is not reported.
Russian ships will be equipped with additional firepower to protect against naval drones. The Russian Defense Minister, during a working trip, visited the command post of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. After hearing reports from the fleet command and staff officers, the minister set the task of conducting constant training with personnel both during the day and at night to repel threats associated with UAVs and sea drones. The Head of the Ministry of Defense also set the task of placing additional fire weapons and large-caliber machine gun rifle systems on the ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, as well as increasing their survivability. What exactly will be posted and in what time frame is not reported. It is worth noting that it is still not clear why the ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, in connection with the emerging threats from sea drones, were not previously equipped with additional means of protection.
The Russian electronic warfare system “Peroed”, designed to combat drones, was upgraded to the “Peroed-M” version and put into mass production. Reportedly, the complex has proven itself well in tests at Russian military institutes and in real conditions. Today, this is the most effective complex for detecting and suppressing FPV drones. The group of Moscow companies "SOZ" modified the ultra-sensitive Burdock radars and combined them with portable mobile electronic warfare units; this became the basis of the Peroed-M electronic warfare complex. The complex operates at frequencies from 900 MHz to 5.8 GHz, including non-standard frequencies that are now being used for FPV drones. The complex uses a narrow scanning beam, which reduces the risk of detection. The complex consists, characteristics on the screen, of a phased wearable radar "Repeynik" or an object-based radar "Repeynik-K", an automatic turret "SOZ REB" and an automatic turret "Peroed-M", used to suppress drones. For safety, the radar, electronic warfare units and the operator’s work area are separated from each other by hundreds of meters, which excludes direct detection of operators. The complex is capable of detecting up to 256 drones, depending on their size, at a range of up to 15 km and an altitude of up to 5 km and suppressing them at a distance of up to 2500 meters. Compact dimensions and modular division into two blocks of 15 and 10.5 kg provide the ability to attach to special equipment and ensure the secrecy of movement of combat crews. The complex deploys in 5 minutes and can operate for up to 8 hours, controlled by one person.
The Chinese company Tsingaero Armaments is going to launch the production of helicopter-type drones in Russia on the territory of Tatarstan. According to the head of the company’s board, the company “chose” Russia to implement this project and “perhaps it will be the only partner country.” The company's drones are used in the military sphere for reconnaissance, transportation, communications relay and battlefield surveillance. In addition, drone helicopters are used in the civilian field, for example, to extinguish fires. Tsingaero Armaments has developed drones and synchrocopters, their rotors are located at an angle to each other, their planes of rotation intersect. When using this scheme, the drone has higher stability and its load capacity is 30% higher. Accurate characteristics of drones on the screen. Depending on the model, drones have a carrying capacity of 60 to 250 kg, can stay in the air for 3 to 5 hours and have a flight range of 200 to 500 km, reaching speeds of up to 270 km/h.
The Russian army has begun to use the Bee queen drone, but there is no technical information about it yet. The drone is made according to the VTOL scheme, that is, a hybrid of an airplane and a quadcopter, it is equipped with an internal combustion engine and can transport and launch FPV drones. Judging by its size, the Bee UAV can carry one FPV drone placed on top. The use of the Bee UAV as a carrier of FPV drones allows you to significantly increase the range of use of FPV drones, since the UAV relays signals from FPV drones and increases their range. Judging by the development of drones, unmanned aircraft will soon become a separate branch of the military.
Heavy-duty FAB-3000 bombs began to be made in Russia, review. The Russian Minister of Defense visited enterprises of the military-industrial complex in the Nizhny Novgorod region, where he got acquainted with the production process of the Russian heavy-duty bomb FAB-3000. In the video you can also see the production of Russian aerial bombs FAB-1500 and FAB-500T, we previously showed this plant, the video can be found in the “Russian Military Factories” playlist. The plant's management reported that it had restored the mass production of FAB-3000 aerial bombs, increased the production of FAB-500 aerial bombs many times over, and also doubled the production of FAB-1500-M54 bombs. Such results were achieved thanks to the reactivation of capacities, technical re-equipment and modernization of production lines; the plant also hired about 1000 more people.
As reported, FAB-3000 bombs will also be equipped with flight planning and correction modules (UMPC). Most likely, the correction module will be equipped with an accelerator to avoid the aircraft entering the air defense zone. It is worth noting that the bomb can be carried by a Tu-22M3 bomber and theoretically by a Su-34 aircraft. The FAB-3000 air bomb was put into service in 1954 and is intended to destroy industrial and other large objects. You can see the bomb's structure on the screen. Typically, a bomb is dropped from a height of up to 16 thousand meters at a flight speed of up to 1200 km/h. The radius of complete destruction of the FAB-3000 bomb is about 46 meters, the fragmentation field when crushing the body and destroying the target is 260 meters. The enemy within a radius of up to 158 meters receives severe concussions. The total mass of the bomb is 3067 kg, it is loaded with 1387 kg of TNT and has 3 fuses.
As reported, FAB-3000 bombs will also be equipped with flight planning and correction modules (UMPC). Most likely, the correction module will be equipped with an accelerator to avoid the aircraft entering the air defense zone. It is worth noting that the bomb can be carried by a Tu-22M3 bomber and theoretically by a Su-34 aircraft. The FAB-3000 air bomb was put into service in 1954 and is intended to destroy industrial and other large objects. You can see the bomb's structure on the screen. Typically, a bomb is dropped from a height of up to 16 thousand meters at a flight speed of up to 1200 km/h. The radius of complete destruction of the FAB-3000 bomb is about 46 meters, the fragmentation field when crushing the body and destroying the target is 260 meters. The enemy within a radius of up to 158 meters receives severe concussions. The total mass of the bomb is 3067 kg, it is loaded with 1387 kg of TNT and has 3 fuses.
MANPADS Verba of Russia review and design of the complex. A Russian serviceman showed how the fourth generation Verba MANPADS works, which will be shown below. The 9K333 Verba man-portable anti-aircraft missile system was developed by JSC Mechanical Engineering Design Bureau and entered service in 2015. The Verba MANPADS is a further development of the Igla-S MANPADS and is up to 1.5-2 times more effective than it. The 9K333 Verba complex includes a 9M336 high-explosive fragmentation anti-aircraft missile, a 9P521 launcher and a 1L229V ground radio interrogator. Additionally, a removable night vision sight 1PN97M "Mowgli-2M" and a small-sized radar 1L122 "Garmon" with a laptop can be used; the radar provides target detection at a range of up to 80 kilometers.
The Verba MANPADS almost does not respond to heat traps and other interference. This is achieved thanks to a particularly sensitive three-spectral missile homing head, operating in the ultraviolet and two infrared ranges. The Verba MANPADS can destroy not only helicopters and airplanes, but also UAVs and cruise missiles. The Verba MANPADS is superior not only to the Igla-S MANPADS, but also to the American FIM-92 Stinger. For comparison: the Igla-S MANPADS hits air targets at altitudes of up to 3.5 kilometers, the Stinger MANPADS up to 3.8, and the Verba MANPADS up to 4.5 kilometers. In addition, the lower limit of the target acquisition height for the Stinger MANPADS is 180 meters, and the Verba MANPADS begins to operate from ten meters. The Verba MANPADS is capable of hitting targets at a range of up to 6400 meters and target flight speeds of up to 500 m/s, the MANPADS reaction time is 8 seconds, and the weight is 17.25 kg. The cost of the Verba MANPADS is supposedly about 150 thousand dollars, and it is supplied only to Armenia.
The Verba MANPADS almost does not respond to heat traps and other interference. This is achieved thanks to a particularly sensitive three-spectral missile homing head, operating in the ultraviolet and two infrared ranges. The Verba MANPADS can destroy not only helicopters and airplanes, but also UAVs and cruise missiles. The Verba MANPADS is superior not only to the Igla-S MANPADS, but also to the American FIM-92 Stinger. For comparison: the Igla-S MANPADS hits air targets at altitudes of up to 3.5 kilometers, the Stinger MANPADS up to 3.8, and the Verba MANPADS up to 4.5 kilometers. In addition, the lower limit of the target acquisition height for the Stinger MANPADS is 180 meters, and the Verba MANPADS begins to operate from ten meters. The Verba MANPADS is capable of hitting targets at a range of up to 6400 meters and target flight speeds of up to 500 m/s, the MANPADS reaction time is 8 seconds, and the weight is 17.25 kg. The cost of the Verba MANPADS is supposedly about 150 thousand dollars, and it is supplied only to Armenia.
The Russian diesel-electric submarine "Volkhov", project 636.3 "Varshavyanka", of the Pacific Fleet, fired from an underwater position with a "Caliber-PL" cruise missile. The shooting was carried out at a coastal target in the Khabarovsk Territory, the firing range exceeded 1000 km. Kalibr-PL cruise missiles are placed in 533 mm torpedo tubes of submarines. “The Kalibr-PL missile is a missile torpedo, first the torpedo is launched, after which the torpedo part is removed and then the missile flies in the air. The Volkhov submarine was launched in 2019 and has a crew of 52 people.
Russian repair units have published an episode of the installation of a turret with a 30-mm 2A72 cannon from a Russian BTR-82A armored personnel carrier on a Ukrainian abandoned BWP-1 infantry fighting vehicle. The BWP-1 infantry fighting vehicle is a Polish copy of the Soviet BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicle, it was produced since 1967 and was subsequently modernized. Ukraine received about a hundred of these machines from Poland.